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Rocky Mountain National Park

Colorado · Established January 26, 1915

Where the Continental Divide lifts meadows into alpine tundra

Area: 265,848 acres
Established: January 26, 1915
Recreation visits: 4,171,431 / yr
State: Colorado
Highest point: Longs Peak, 14,259 ft (4,346 m)
Lowest point: About 7,860 ft (2,396 m), eastern valleys

Rocky Mountain Weather Forecast

Loading the National Weather Service forecast for Rocky Mountain…

Seven-day outlook at the park's reference point (40.356, -105.697). Elevation changes everything in the mountains — expect colder, windier and wetter conditions on high ground.

Map of Rocky Mountain National Park

The Park

Rocky Mountain National Park straddles the Continental Divide in north-central Colorado, a high country of glacier-carved valleys, tarns, and granite summits. More than one-third of the park lies above treeline, and Trail Ridge Road carries visitors across that tundra to 12,183 feet, the highest continuous paved highway in the country.

Congress established the park on January 26, 1915, and it now covers about 265,807 acres, recognized since 1976 as an international Biosphere Reserve. Within it rise some 60 peaks above 12,000 feet, crowned by Longs Peak at 14,259 feet. Elk bugle in the meadows each autumn, moose browse the willows of the Kawuneeche Valley, and pikas call from the talus above.

Geography

The park sits about 55 miles northwest of Denver, between the gateway towns of Estes Park on the east and Grand Lake on the west. The Continental Divide runs roughly north to south through its center, so snowmelt on the east side flows toward the Atlantic by way of the Big Thompson River and Fall River, while the west side feeds the Pacific-bound Colorado River, which begins in the park's northwest corner.

Elevations range from about 7,860 feet in the eastern valleys to 14,259 feet on Longs Peak. The Front Range dominates the east, the Mummy Range rises in the north, and the volcanic Never Summer Mountains form the western skyline across the Kawuneeche Valley. The park holds roughly 150 lakes and some 450 miles of streams.

Landmarks

Longs PeakPeak · 14,259 ftThe park's highest summit and its only fourteener, with a sheer east face called the Diamond.
Chasm LakeLakeA cirque lake at the foot of Longs Peak's east face.
Glacier GorgeValleyA classic glacier-carved valley holding a chain of lakes below the Continental Divide.
Sky PondLakeA tarn in Loch Vale framed by the Sharkstooth and Taylor Glacier.
Andrews GlacierGlacierOne of the park's few surviving small glaciers, set in a cirque on the Divide.
Hallett PeakPeakA granite summit whose north face towers above Emerald Lake.
Bear LakeLakeA subalpine lake at the hub of the park's most popular trail network.
Moraine ParkValleyA broad meadow ringed by glacial moraines where elk gather in autumn.
Alluvial FanAreaA boulder fan left by the 1982 Lawn Lake dam failure flood in Horseshoe Park.
Forest Canyon OverlookCanyonA tundra viewpoint over the deep, glaciated valley of the Big Thompson River.
Alpine Visitor CenterAreaThe highest visitor center in the National Park System, on Trail Ridge Road.
Hagues PeakPeakThe highest summit of the remote Mummy Range in the north of the park.
Specimen MountainVolcanoA peak built of Tertiary volcanic rock, frequented by bighorn sheep.
Milner PassAreaWhere Trail Ridge Road crosses the Continental Divide beside Poudre Lake.
Poudre LakeLakeThe source of the Cache la Poudre River at Milner Pass.
Grand DitchRiverA historic water diversion scarring the Never Summer Mountains above the Kawuneeche Valley.

Geology

The cores of the park's mountains are among the oldest rocks in Colorado. Around 1.7 billion years ago, sediments and volcanic rocks were buried, heated, and squeezed into gneiss and schist. Later pulses of magma cooled into granite, including the roughly 1.4-billion-year-old Silver Plume Granite that makes up Longs Peak.

For hundreds of millions of years this basement was worn down and at times covered by seas; isolated slices of Mesozoic sediments from the Western Interior Seaway survive along faults on the park's west side. Beginning around 70 million years ago, the Laramide orogeny heaved the ancient rocks skyward, raising the Front Range, the Mummy Range, and the high surface now crossed by Trail Ridge Road.

Between about 29 and 23 million years ago, volcanic eruptions built much of what is now the Never Summer Mountains on the western edge of the park. Erosion then stripped away softer cover and left the old crystalline rocks exposed along the high ridges.

The finishing touches came from ice. During the Bull Lake glaciation, and again in the Pinedale glaciation that peaked roughly 30,000 to 12,000 years ago, valley glaciers flowed down from the Divide. They quarried cirques and bowl-shaped basins, gouged U-shaped valleys like Glacier Gorge and Forest Canyon, and piled up the moraines that now enclose Moraine Park and Horseshoe Park. A handful of small glaciers, including Andrews, Tyndall, Taylor, and Sprague, still linger in shaded cirques.

Deep time

About 1.7 billion years agoSediments and volcanic rocks are metamorphosed into the gneiss and schist that form the park's basement.
About 1.4 billion years agoSilver Plume Granite intrudes the older rocks and later becomes the bulk of Longs Peak.
MesozoicThe Western Interior Seaway covers the region, leaving sediments that survive only in isolated fault slices.
About 70 million years agoThe Laramide orogeny uplifts the Front Range and the ancestral core of today's mountains.
29–23 million years agoVolcanic eruptions build much of the Never Summer Mountains.
PleistoceneBull Lake and later Pinedale glaciers carve cirques and U-shaped valleys and deposit moraines.
30,000–12,000 years agoThe Pinedale glaciation reaches its maximum and retreats, leaving lakes dammed behind moraines.
1982The failure of the Lawn Lake dam sends a flood down the Roaring River, building the Alluvial Fan.

The rocks

Proterozoic gneiss and schistAbout 1.7 billion years
Banded metamorphic rocks forming much of the park's crystalline basement.
Silver Plume GraniteAbout 1.4 billion years
A coarse granite that makes up Longs Peak and much of the high country.
Mesozoic sedimentary strataMesozoic
Rare fault-bounded remnants of Western Interior Seaway sediments on the west side.
Never Summer volcanic rocksOligocene–Miocene, 29–23 Ma
Lava flows, ash, and intrusions forming the Never Summer Mountains and Specimen Mountain.
Glacial moraines and tillPleistocene
Ridges of unsorted rock and sediment around Moraine Park, Horseshoe Park, and valley mouths.

Trees, Plants & Ecosystems

1,010vascular plant species recorded

MontaneBelow about 9,500 ft
Ponderosa pine savannas, Douglas-fir slopes, and wide meadows where elk and mule deer gather.
SubalpineAbout 9,000–11,000 ft
Dense Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir forests with lodgepole pine, aspen stands, and lingering snowpack.
Alpine tundraAbove about 11,000 ft
Treeless, wind-scoured country covering more than a third of the park, home to pikas, marmots, and ptarmigan.
Riparian and wetlands7,860–11,000 ft
Willow carrs and beaver ponds along streams, especially in the Kawuneeche Valley, where moose feed.
Krummholz and treelineAbout 11,000 ft
Wind-flagged, stunted spruce and fir that hug the ground at the edge of the tundra.

Trees

Ponderosa pinePinus ponderosa ssp. scopulorumWidely spaced, vanilla-scented pines on warm, south-facing montane slopes.
Douglas-firPseudotsuga menziesiiPrefers cooler north-facing montane slopes.
Lodgepole pinePinus contorta ssp. latifoliaForms dense even-aged stands that regrow after fire.
Limber pinePinus flexilisA wind-sculpted pine of rocky ridges, with branches that can bend without breaking.
Engelmann sprucePicea engelmanniiDominates the subalpine forest and grows as krummholz at treeline.
Subalpine firAbies lasiocarpaA narrow, spire-shaped fir that shares the high forest with spruce.
Colorado blue sprucePicea pungensColorado's state tree, found along streams in the montane zone.
Quaking aspenPopulus tremuloidesClonal groves that turn gold in late September.
Narrowleaf cottonwoodPopulus angustifoliaGrows along lower-elevation streams.
Rocky Mountain juniperJuniperus scopulorumA scattered small tree of dry, rocky montane sites.

Wildflowers, shrubs & other plants

Alpine avensGeum rossiiThe most abundant tundra wildflower, its leaves turning red in late summer.
Moss campionSilene acaulisA cushion plant studded with tiny pink flowers that may take a decade to bloom.
Sky pilotPolemonium viscosumMusky blue flowers on the highest rocky slopes.
Alpine cloverTrifolium dasyphyllumMats of pink-and-white flowers on tundra fellfields.
Mountain dryadDryas octopetalaCreamy eight-petaled flowers on wind-exposed alpine ridges.
Bellardi bog sedgeKobresia myosuroidesA turf-forming sedge that dominates windblown alpine meadows.
PasqueflowerPulsatilla patensAmong the first flowers to bloom as snow melts in the montane zone.
Rosy paintbrushCastilleja rhexiifoliaMagenta bracts in subalpine meadows in midsummer.
Elephant's headPedicularis groenlandicaPink spikes of flowers shaped like tiny elephant heads in wet meadows.
Tall fringed bluebellsMertensia ciliataNodding blue flowers along subalpine streams.
FireweedChamerion angustifoliumTall magenta spires that colonize burned and disturbed ground.
Whipple's penstemonPenstemon whippleanusDusky purple tubular flowers in subalpine openings.
Sulphur-flower buckwheatEriogonum umbellatumRound yellow flower heads on dry, rocky slopes.
Planeleaf willowSalix planifoliaA shrub willow forming thickets near treeline and in wetlands, vital for moose and ptarmigan.

Wildlife

61mammals
256birds
1reptiles
4amphibians
10fish

Mammals

ElkCervus elaphusNumbering in the thousands in summer, famous for their autumn bugling in Moraine and Horseshoe parks.
MooseAlces alcesMost common on the west side, feeding in willow thickets along the Colorado River.
Bighorn sheepOvis canadensisColorado's state animal, often seen at Sheep Lakes and on Specimen Mountain.
Mule deerOdocoileus hemionusBrowses montane meadows and forest edges.
American black bearUrsus americanusPresent but secretive; food must be stored properly.
Mountain lionPuma concolorThe park's largest predator, rarely seen.
CoyoteCanis latransHunts voles in the meadows year-round.
American pikaOchotona princepsA small relative of rabbits that gathers haypiles in the talus for winter.
Yellow-bellied marmotMarmota flaviventrisSuns itself on rocks along Trail Ridge Road.
American beaverCastor canadensisBuilds dams that create wetlands in the valleys.
Snowshoe hareLepus americanusTurns white in winter to match the snow.
ErmineMustela ermineaA small weasel that also turns white in winter.
Least chipmunkTamias minimusBusy around trailheads and rock piles.
Pine squirrelTamiasciurus hudsonicusChatters from conifers and caches cones in large middens.

Birds

White-tailed ptarmiganLagopus leucurusA tundra grouse that is mottled in summer and pure white in winter.
Brown-capped rosy-finchLeucosticte australisA Southern Rockies specialty that nests on alpine cliffs.
American pipitAnthus rubescensPerforms fluttering song flights over the summer tundra.
Clark's nutcrackerNucifraga columbianaCaches thousands of pine seeds each fall, helping limber pines spread.
Gray jayPerisoreus canadensisA bold subalpine jay that stores food for winter.
Steller's jayCyanocitta stelleriA crested blue-and-black jay of the montane forest.
American dipperCinclus mexicanusWalks underwater in rushing streams to feed on insect larvae.
Broad-tailed hummingbirdSelasphorus platycercusMales announce themselves with a metallic wing trill.
Mountain chickadeePoecile gambeliA year-round resident of the conifer forests.
Mountain bluebirdSialia currucoidesSky-blue males hover over open meadows.
Golden eagleAquila chrysaetosSoars along high ridges hunting marmots and hares.
Black-billed magpiePica picaA long-tailed, black-and-white corvid of the lower valleys.
American three-toed woodpeckerPicoides tridactylusFlakes bark from spruce in search of beetle larvae.

Reptiles & amphibians

Boreal toadBufo boreas boreasAn endangered high-elevation toad in Colorado, hit hard by chytrid fungus.
Boreal chorus frogPseudacris maculataIts trilling chorus rises from snowmelt ponds in early summer.
Wood frogRana sylvaticaA cold-adapted frog of wetlands on the west side of the park.
Tiger salamanderAmbystoma tigrinumBreeds in ponds and lakes and is the park's only salamander.
Western terrestrial garter snakeThamnophis elegansThe park's only documented reptile, found near water.

Fish

Greenback cutthroat troutOncorhynchus clarkii stomiasColorado's state fish, the focus of long-running native trout restoration.
Colorado River cutthroat troutOncorhynchus clarkii pleuriticusThe native cutthroat of west-side waters in the Colorado River basin.
Brook troutSalvelinus fontinalisA non-native trout that competes with native cutthroat.

Species totals are the park's certified NPSpecies checklist (occurrence: present).

Climate & When to Visit

Elevation controls nearly everything about the weather in Rocky Mountain National Park. With more than 6,000 feet of relief, a pleasant summer morning in the valleys can coincide with freezing wind on the tundra, and conditions can change within an hour. As a rule, temperatures drop several degrees for every thousand feet you climb.

Summer days often dawn clear, but heating over the high peaks builds towering clouds by early afternoon, bringing lightning, brief heavy rain, hail, and sometimes snow on the Divide. The winter snowpack is deepest on the west side and in the high country, while the east-side valleys often stay windy, sunny, and relatively dry. Powerful westerly winds scour the ridges in the cold season, and Trail Ridge Road typically closes from mid-autumn until late spring.

Spring
A long, fickle season of snowstorms alternating with mild days; high trails stay snowbound into June.
Summer
Warm valleys, cool tundra, wildflowers, and near-daily afternoon thunderstorms, especially from July into August.
Autumn
Crisp, often stable weather, golden aspen in late September, and the elk rut, with the first snows arriving up high.
Winter
Cold and snowy in the high country with strong winds; Trail Ridge Road closes, and snowshoeing and skiing take over.

Weather hazards

Lightning: Be off summits and exposed ridges before thunderstorms build, typically by early afternoon.
Altitude illness: Elevations above 8,000 ft can cause headaches, nausea, and shortness of breath, so ascend gradually and hydrate.
Hypothermia: Cold rain, wind, and sudden snow can chill hikers even in July, so carry warm layers.
Avalanches: Winter and spring travel in steep terrain requires avalanche training, gear, and a current forecast.
Swift, cold water: Snowmelt streams are powerful and icy; stay back from slick rocks along waterfalls.
High winds: Gusts on the tundra and ridges can knock hikers off balance and drive windchill far below freezing.

Rocky Mountain Questions

When is the best time to visit Rocky Mountain National Park?

Mid-June through September offers open roads, wildflowers, and access to high trails, while late September brings golden aspen and the elk rut. Winter is quiet and beautiful but many roads close and the high country is snowbound.

When does Trail Ridge Road open?

Trail Ridge Road usually opens to through traffic in late May or early June and closes for the season in mid-to-late October, depending on snow. Weather can close it temporarily at any time.

Why do thunderstorms happen almost every summer afternoon?

Morning sun heats the mountain slopes, forcing moist air to rise and form clouds over the peaks. By early afternoon, those clouds often grow into thunderstorms, so plan to reach summits and ridges early.

Where is the best place to see elk and moose?

Elk are commonly seen in Moraine Park, Horseshoe Park, and along Trail Ridge Road, especially at dawn and dusk. Moose are most often found in the willows of the Kawuneeche Valley on the west side.

How did glaciers shape the park?

Ice-age glaciers flowed down valleys from the Continental Divide, carving bowl-shaped cirques and U-shaped valleys. As they melted, they left moraines that now frame meadows like Moraine Park and dam many of the park's lakes.

Is altitude a concern when visiting?

Yes. The park's lowest elevations are near 7,860 ft and Trail Ridge Road passes 12,000 ft, so visitors from low elevations may feel short of breath or develop headaches. Drink water, go slowly, and descend if symptoms worsen.

More parks in the Rocky Mountains

← Redwood National and State Parks Saguaro National Park →

Sources: www.nps.gov · www.nps.gov · www.nps.gov · www.usgs.gov · irmaservices.nps.gov · en.wikipedia.org · Official NPS site